News: HDB launches 6,753 flats in May

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) launched 6,753 flats for sale under its latest Build-To-Order (BTO) and Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) exercise.

This comprises 3,485 BTO and 3,268 SBF units.

The BTO flats are spread across four projects, three of which are in the non-mature towns of Woodlands and Tengah, while the fourth project is in Kallang Whampoa. A range of two-room Flexi to five-room flats are being offered.

“With effect from this sales exercise, the balloting time for BTO flats will be reduced from six weeks to three weeks,” said HDB.

ERA Realty key executive officer Eugene Lim expects the Kallang/Whampoa flats to be the most popular as they are located right beside Boon Keng MRT station.

“Despite the heftier price tag (three-room flats start from $387,000 and four-room flats start from $562,000 excluding grants), demand for these flats are expected to be high, especially among second timers,” he said.

Huttons Asia research head Lee Sze Teck, however, noted that the prices for Kallang/Whampoa flats are about 60 percent to 70 percent higher than those in Tengah and Woodlands.

“Buyers may want to take that into consideration,” he said.

Eligible first-timer families can enjoy up to $80,000 of housing grants, which comprises up to $40,000 in Additional CPF Housing Grant (AHG) and up to $40,000 in Special CPF Housing Grant (SHG).

“With these grants, flat buyers could pay as little as $6,000 for a two-room Flexi flat, $90,000 for a three-room flat, $184,000 for a four-room flat, and $331,000 for a five-room flat,” said HDB.

Starting from this month’s sales exercise, second-timer families living in public rental flats may also avail of the Step-Up CPF Housing Grants of $15,000 when they apply for a two-room Flexi or three-room flat in non-mature estates.

HDB revealed that majority of the SBF flats offered are reserved for first-timer families. “Eligible first-timer singles may also apply for a two-room Flexi flat in non-mature towns,” it added.

Applications for the flats may be submitted online on the HDB website from today till next Tuesday (28 May). HDB noted that buyers can only apply for one flat type in one town in either the BTO or SBF exercise.

Meanwhile, HDB will offer around 3,300 flats in Punggol and Tampines in August, and another 4,500 flats in Tampines, Ang Mo Kio and Tengah in November.

“In June 2019, flat buyers will have an option to book unselected ROF flats from an open pool at any time of the year,” said HDB. “More details will be announced at a later date.”

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Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg